TALENTED young chefs whipped up culinary treats to tickle the taste buds as Dart­mouth celebrated the best in food and drink.

Dartmouth Food Festival got off to a flying start on Thursday afternoon with the local heat of the Rotary Young Chef Comp­etition, hosted by the town’s Rotary club.

The winner, Tia Noon, was presented with the Rotary Young Chef Cup for her dishes of Moroccan chicken on a bed of sweet potato mash and treacle tart. Oliver Smith received the runner-up certificate for his brill with seared mussels in a fragrant curry sauce and a dessert of banoffee tart.

Six aspiring chefs had successfully negotiated the fiercely competitive selection process within Dartmouth Academy to make it to the local finals.

Oliver Smith, Tia Noon, Tyler Urch, Julie Vennelle, Noah Taylor and Samantha Plowman-Moss had been mentored by parents, teachers and chefs allocated randomly from some of the best restaurants in Dart­mouth; Emma Yeo from Kendrick’s, Ankur Biswas from the Royal Castle Hotel, Jamie Bushell of Bushell’s, Peter Alcroft of the Dart Marina Hotel, Aga from the Anzac Bistro and Tony Hooper of the Station Restaurant.

Their task was to produce a delicious and nutritious two course meal for two, in less than two hours and within a tight budget of £8.

The contestants and chefs were introduced to the audience by Rotary president John Mills, during the first session of the competition held in the Flavel Church from 2.30pm to 3pm.

Each described their proposed menu and the reasons why they had chosen their dishes.

This year more contestants had included fish and seafood in their dishes with an obvious emphasis on sustainability, using species such as pollack, pouting and farmed mussels.

Chicken – always good value for money – was as popular as ever.

North African and Asian influences were evident with dishes using turmeric and curry spices as well as spicy seafood stew and chicken with Moroccan spices.

The contestants and their chefs then went off to their host kitchens and set to work. It was relief to the waiting audience when they all returned to the demonstration kitchen promptly by 5pm.

Rotary spokesman Hilary Bastone said: ‘Wonderful aromas filled the packed marquee and the dishes were all visually attractive with vibrant colours and contrasting textures.

‘The uniformly high standard of presentation suggested that the competitors and perhaps also their parents were fans of Master Chef!’

The judges; hotelier Nigel Way; Camilla Beloe, chairman of the Dartmouth Food Festival; and Richard Hunt, one of the celebrity chefs who came to Dartmouth especially for the food festival, all agreed that deciding a winner was going to be a hard task.

The audience relished their amusing and constructive comments and whilst the judges conferred many were able to taste the dishes.

Mr Bastone said everyone agreed that despite the tight timelines the food was well-cooked, while remaining succulent and tender.

The results were announced by Camilla Beloe who handed each contestant a certificate congratulating them on their efforts.

Mr Mills thanked the chefs, judges and festival organisers for their help in running the event and singled out Annie Robinson from among the staff at Dartmouth Academy for her work in bringing such a fine field of competitors to the event.

Peter Goldstraw, who organised the competition for the Rotary Club of Dartmouth, said: ‘It is wonderful to see these young contestants grow in confidence and self-esteem as they progress through the competition. The standard of cooking and especially the presentation just gets better every year.’

The winners now go through to the area finals against teams sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Torbay.